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Vatican spokesman sees African papal trip as 'the journey that reveals the pontificate' (Vatican News)

Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Dicastery for Communication, said in an editorial that he sees Pope Leo’s apostolic journey to four African nations as “the journey that reveals the pontificate.”

“The emphasis on peace, on returning to negotiation, and on respect for international law—interventions that have drawn reactions in recent days—fits within this context,” Tornielli wrote. “It helps to clarify once more the nature of the Church’s service, and particularly that of the Successor of Peter, who does not act as a politician but as a pastor.”

“Yet it is inherent in being a pastor—far from any reduction to a purely spiritual or abstract dimension—to care about peace, justice, dialogue, encounter, the building of more just societies, closeness to those who are persecuted or discriminated against, solidarity with innocent victims of war, and the prophetic concern for the fate of humanity in this “dramatic hour of history,” Tornielli concluded.

In Christian civilization, the sick are loved, Pope says at psychiatric hospital (CWN)

Pope Leo XIV visited a psychiatric hospital in Equatorial Guinea (video) and said that loving care for the sick is a hallmark of Christian civilization.

Pope Leo writes message for 1st anniversary of death of Pope Francis (Dicastery for Communication (Italian))

In a message to Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, for the first anniversary of Pope Francis’s death, Pope Leo XIV said that his predecessor “remained a disciple of the Lord, faithful to his Baptism and consecration in the episcopal ministry, until the end. He was also a missionary, proclaiming the Gospel of mercy ‘to all, to all, to all,’ as he said several times.”

“In harmony with his predecessors, he took up the legacy of the Second Vatican Council and spurred the Church to be open to mission,” Pope Leo continued. “We still hear his exhortations, expressed in eloquent words, to make the good news more understandable: mercy, peace, brotherhood, the smell of the sheep, the field hospital and many others. Each of these expressions brings us back to the Gospel he lived with a new language that proclaims the same Gospel as always.”

Pope Leo also highlighted his predecessor’s Marian devotion.

“Pope Francis nurtured a deep devotion to Mary throughout his life,” he said, citing his visits to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major and Marian shrines around the world. “May the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, help us to be tireless apostles of her divine Son and prophets of his merciful love in every circumstance.”

Apr. 22 Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter, Weekday

The Roman Martyrology commemorates two pope saints, Soter and Caius, separated by a century. Pope St. Soter (d. 175) was the twelfth pope, and succeeded Anicetus as Pope in 166. He died a martyr in 175, under Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Pope St. Caius (d. 296) was the 28th pope. Caius governed the Church from 283 until he died on April 22, 296. The popes of the first centuries suffered the heavy anxiety of the persecutions which continually threatened their flocks; the pontificate of Caius, however, was marked by a long period of peace, some ten years before the terrible persecution under Emperor Diocletian.

PHOTOS: Pope Leo XIV Visits Equatorial Guinea as Africa Visit Draws to a Close

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Pope Leo XIV at Psychiatric Hospital: ‘God Loves Us Just As We Are’

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Pope Leo XIV: Universities Must Seek Truth and Form the Whole Person

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Meet the Pathologist Performing Autopsies on the Great Saints

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Remembering Pope Francis: 9 Moments That Defined His Legacy

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